


Her Inside Face

by annazonfox



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Canon Queer Relationship, F/F, Femslash, First Kiss, First Time, Lemon, Lesbian Sex, Oh no there's only one bed!, Or so I claim, Sharing a Bed, Smut with character development
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 15:34:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11992689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annazonfox/pseuds/annazonfox
Summary: Nyssa has been training Sara in the League of Assassins for many months. She leads Sara on her first mission and, afterwards, they stay in a safe house together. The safe house only has one bed.This story is about how Sara and Nyssa first got together.





	Her Inside Face

 xxx

We slipped through the woods, Nyssa and I. She led, while I followed her quick, graceful steps. It was twilight, with a crisp chill in the air. The light rain coated our robes in a layer of dampness.

My adrenaline still racing, I was able to keep up easily, though I dared not speak. Not yet. We hadn’t spoken since we finished the mission. Analysis would come later. For now, we continued to wind our way through the hills, up and down the terrain. If we followed a trail, I wasn’t aware of it. Nyssa, however, moved with a steady determination as if seeing a path. Uncertain whether we were being followed, I fought the urge to look behind us.

A mist had settled on the peaks of the hills, obscuring our surroundings. I picked up my pace so I wouldn’t lag too far behind and lose her. I sensed movement to the right. Without turning my head, I looked out of the corner of my eye. It was a deer, standing still, watching us. A twig snapped and it darted to the side, away from us.

Finally, Nyssa slowed her pace and came to a stop. We had reached the checkpoint. Nestled within a grove of trees stood a small lake house. It looked rustic, but Nyssa went to the side of the house, opened a small compartment in the siding, and typed in a digital code.

I followed her to the front door, then, where she turned the knob and we entered. Although we had been traveling for several hours at a quick pace, I saw that her breathing was normal. I’m not sure she had even broken a sweat.

She turned to me and pulled back the hood she wore. “Ta-er al-Sahfer,” she said, softly. “What are you feeling?”

Many things. Only some of which I could say aloud. I paused, looked down. “I … didn’t hesitate. To do it.”

“Are you troubled by that?” She cupped my chin, drawing my head back up. Her deep brown eyes searched mine.

“I…. I don’t know,” I said, finally. “It surprised me.” I remembered the feeling of sliding the blade into the target, Nyssa holding his arms behind his back. The lead-up happened so fast, but the moment itself seemed to go in slow-motion. “I didn’t know I was ready. To kill like that, I mean.”

Nyssa nodded. “And what did you feel, in that moment?”

“....Nothing.”

“Good. It is a very satisfactory outcome for your first mark,” Nyssa said. “Ra’s al Ghul will be pleased.”

I swallowed. “How did you know I was ready?”

She dropped her hand from my chin, but held my gaze. “We have trained together for many months.”

“Yes. We have,” I said, stepping closer. “And I’m grateful for your guidance.”

“You are a gifted initiate,” Nyssa said. “I knew that right away. Mind, body, spirit. You can go very far in the League, given your desire to learn, your physical skill, and your ability for ascertaining the risk of given scenarios.”

A flush had crept into my cheeks. Nyssa was sparse with praise, generally.

She observed me. “You’re feeling something more as well?”

I nodded.

“I see,” she said. “I advise you to take heed of what you’re feeling, then. I remember my first time. The exhilaration born from having touched the void and, in so doing, changing the political trajectory of a nation, all from the shadows.” She looked closely at me. “I see this feeling in you. Your pulse. The color that has risen in your face. The rate of your breathing. You feel invincible. It is now, more than ever, that you must remember you are not.”

“Yes, Nyssa. I understand.”

Nyssa held my gaze for a moment longer. Satisfied, she turned, then, and we both took stock of the cabin’s interior. One main room. A large rug in the center. A fireplace. A washroom off to the side. One bed.

“This safe house is a bit austere, I’m afraid,” Nyssa said, without turning. “But it will have to do.”

“I can take the floor.” Etiquette suggested that I offer.

“That would be absurd,” she said. “It will behoove us both to be well-rested tomorrow. We must row to the other side of the lake before dawn if we’re to make our charter to Nanda Parbat by nightfall.”

 

xxx

 

After taking turns washing up in the bathroom, we shared a quick meal of dried fruits. We decided not to use the fireplace for either cooking or warmth, as doing so would have drawn undue attention to our presence.

When we finished eating, we sat on the edge of the bed together in our nightclothes. We were silent, but that wasn’t unusual. Nyssa liked conversation, but she rarely filled silence with unnecessary chatter.

Next to me, she reached into one of her pouches on the nightstand and retrieved a flask. She unscrewed the cap and passed it to me. “Something that might help you sleep,” she said. “And warm you up.”

I raised a skeptical eyebrow. “At some point, I really need to fill you in on my hard-drinking past.”

Nyssa smiled slightly. It was then that I remembered how rare it was that she truly smiled, and realized how unfortunate that was. “That life is behind you now, Ta-er al-Sahfer.”

I reached for the flask and our hands touched. My heart jumped a beat and I looked at her, quickly assessing. Not seeing an immediate reaction, I let my hand linger on hers for just a moment longer than seemed appropriate.

I then drew the flask away and raised it to my mouth, but before drinking, I inhaled. I smelled aromatic spices. It must have been a strong mulled wine. The scent reminded me vaguely of Nyssa. I noticed it only when very close to her, as in joint lock practice, grappling, and inside fighting. I took a drink and felt warmth flood my body.

“It’s quite good, isn’t it?” Nyssa asked.

“It is,” I said, and handed the flask to her even though I suddenly, desperately wanted to drink more of it. Enough to make me forget. Forget Lian Yu. Forget the _Queen’s Gambit._ Forget the rules of propriety between a junior assassin and her mentor. But, forgetting could be dangerous. This, I knew.

Nyssa took a drink as well, closing her eyes as she swallowed the liquid. She recapped the flask and placed it on the nightstand beside the bed. Then, she removed the clips from her hair, letting her long, dark hair fall past her shoulders. The innocent gesture seemed tantalizing, obscene almost. I looked away quickly.

“Shall we?” Nyssa asked, indicating that it was time to lie down.

I nodded and scooted over to one side of the bed. We each started shifting ourselves under the covers, careful to remain on our respective halves. Without another word, Nyssa leaned toward the nightstand and turned the lantern off. Light from the moon filtered into the room.

Under the covers, I rested on my side with my arms wrapped around myself, chilled. I stayed like that for minutes. Ten… twenty? I couldn’t say. My mind jumped around, replaying the day’s events. Riding on the back of a motorcycle, my hands around Nyssa’s waist. Following our mark on foot, in the shadows. The kill. Blood dripping to the floor. A body sagging.

I opened my eyes with a start.

Facing Nyssa, I saw that she lay still, on her back, inches from me. Her chest was rising and falling under the covers. The pace of her breathing was long and even. I fought the urge to toss and turn. To get up and start doing crunches. To touch myself. To do something, anything. I took a few silent, deep breaths.

Nyssa shifted slightly and cleared her throat. She turned on her side, to face me. “Ta-er al-Sahfer, you must still your mind. Feel nothing. That, too, is part of today’s lesson.”

“Yes, Nyssa.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

The mattress shifted and I felt her hand graze my arm. I’m sure she intended her touch to calm me, but it had the opposite effect.

“Why, you’re absolutely freezing,” she said.

“I’m sure I’ll be asleep soon,” I said, sure that I wouldn’t be.

She kept her hand on my arm, as if uncertain whether to pull it away. “Remember your breathing,” she said, finally. “Shall we cycle through the Breath of the Blue Flame together?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I think that would help.”

Nyssa started the breathing pattern. Following her lead, I took a deep breath, filling the entirety of my lungs with air. We held it for the requisite count and then slowly exhaled. Closing my eyes, I imagined a small flame in front of me. We repeated the breathing cycle. With each out-breath the flame grew bigger and warmer. Nyssa’s hand remained on my arm, already warm like coal.

The cycle complete, Nyssa shifted. “Your mind is a bit more still,” she said. “Your body a bit more warm, yes?”

"Yes."

“Very good,” she said, pulling her hand away.

My breath hitched in disappointed surprise, feeling the warmth begin to leave my body.

“Ta-er al-Sahfer?”

“It’s just… you’re so warm. I think it helped me.” I clenched my fist, wanting to roll my eyes at myself. I am a trained assassin. Telling her how I really feel shouldn’t be this hard. And yet, it was. One does not simply seduce the Heir to the Demon, right?

Right.

I unclenched my hand and slowly reached out, with shaking breath, resting a hand on Nyssa’s hip. In the darkness, I heard an ever-so-soft sound: Nyssa’s breath hitching.

Maybe.

In any event, she didn’t pull away. Or, worse. I was fairly certain, after all, that she slept with a dagger hidden somewhere on her body.

Feeling slightly encouraged, I drew closer into her warmth. The length of our bodies weren’t full-on touching. Not quite. My face rested near the delicate juncture of where her neck and collarbone met, our distance from one another remained at a blurry border between platonic and romantic. I was certain I still had a margin for plausible deniability. Well, fairly certain.

Nyssa licked her lips, started to speak, but then stopped herself.

I slid my hand from her hip to underneath the light tank top she wore. Using my fingertips, I grazed the soft skin along her hip and up her side, and then back down. “Nyssa,” I started. “I don’t know if you are….”

Into women, I wanted to say. But at this point, I suspected I’d know an answer to that soon enough. So much for plausible deniability.

Nyssa put her hand to the side of my face. She then leaned her head forward and kissed me firmly on the lips.

Surprised, I didn’t kiss back. By the time I got my bearings, she was pulling away, leaving only her scent of mulled spices and a cold emptiness to linger on my lips.

We both paused, breathing together.

Finally, she whispered, “What are we doing?”

 _We_. That seemed promising. It implied complicity. Mutuality. Could this magnificent woman be struggling to control herself just as I was?

My stupor broken, I moved in closer. “Come back to me,” I whispered.

“This is extremely careless.” She put her hand at my chest, stopping me.

“I’ve been thinking of this as more of a calculated risk,” I said, a small, hopeful smile starting to form at my lips.

“Oh,” Nyssa said. “And….have you been thinking of _this_ …..for long?”

I swallowed. “For too long, probably.” I began moving my thumb in small circles at her hip. “Have… have _you_ been thinking about _this…._?”

Nyssa was silent, but I heard her exhale. And then, finally. “Ta-er al-Sahfer. I’ve never wanted something more.”

My heart lept. I leaned forward, my hand reaching for her face.

But, her hand at my chest continued to press, stopping me. “Have you known for long, how I feel?”

“Not with certainty,” I said.

“I tried not to let on. I thought I’d been careful.”

“Nyssa, you’ve been training me to observe, to see the hidden side of things, and to hear what is left unsaid. To the League, you are Nyssa al Ghul: disciplined, dangerous, and skilled.”

“And to you, am I not that?”

“Remember when you taught me about the sword with two sides? One side faces outward. That’s what we reveal to the world and our opponents. The other side faces inward. That one contains our secrets. Who we really are. Our true intentions.”

“And you think you’ve seen this… inward-facing side?”

“Well, it was you who taught me that every fighter reveals who they are, piece by piece, in the way they fight. For months, we’ve trained together, bled together, and now killed together. I have not been not certain how you feel. But, I was certain enough to risk it, tonight.”

Nyssa paused. And then, “Perhaps I’ve trained you too well for your own good.”

I placed my hand over hers, on my chest. “Nyssa, you are the best teacher I’ve ever had. Sometimes I wonder… what you’re doing…”

“In a place like Nanda Parbat?”

I didn’t answer that. I shouldn’t have even went there. It wasn’t my place to judge what she was born into. “You haven’t taught me by abusing me, like some of the others do with their adepts. Like … Ra’s al Ghul does with his.”

She eyed me in the moonlight, her face not revealing her emotion. “The League’s brutal methods would have broken you, Ta-er al-Sahfer. Many other initiates before you have been…. lost.”

“So, you chose to train me yourself.” Tentatively, I moved my hand to the side of her face.

“Yes.”

“And you deviated from the League’s training methods. Which isn’t permitted,” I said. “But you did, for me. That is borderline traitorous.”

"If I didn’t know you better, I’d take that as a threat.”

“But, you do know me better, Nyssa. Just as I know you. I would never turn you in.”

After a lengthy pause, finally she spoke. “All of that may be, but you still must know-”

“It’s okay. The others have told me-”

“The others should learn to keep their mouths shut,” Nyssa said, in a flash of anger.

“That’s my fault. Please don’t punish them for my prying behavior. I had to find out if you were allowed to have a lover.”

Nyssa let out a sharp laugh. “Well you can count on Ra’s al Ghul already knowing about….. _this_ then.”

“I’m sorry. I was careless.”

But, Nyssa placed a hand at my cheek. “He would have learned of it anyway, eventually. Especially because the feeling is mutual.” She smoothed strands of hair behind my ear and began stroking the back of my neck.

“Nyssa….”

“While I am not forbidden to take a lover, Ra’s al Ghul has made it quite clear that he considers it an unacceptable distraction from my duties. And as for you, you should know that he has never approved of my…. inclinations. He will begin to see you differently. And not for the better.”

“I accept his judgment.”

Nyssa took a deep breath. “What I want to make sure you understand is that-”

“He’ll think I’ve corrupted his lovely daughter?”

Nyssa smiled softly. “Oh, I assure you, he’ll place the blame primarily on me. But, no one who I’ve taken to bed has remained in the League. One way or another, they have been exiled. He has seen to that.”

I had a sense what “one way or another” meant, in League parlance. “Nyssa,” I said. I paused. ”You saved me. You never gave up on me, even in the beginning when I was such a brat. And now, I’ve fallen in love with you. I know who and what you are. I accept it all. But whether  _you_ will risk displeasing Ra’s al Ghul is a decision you’ll have to make for yourself.”

In the moonlight, she closed her eyes. “My Cherished One.” When she opened her eyes, she leaned toward me again. She drew her hand to my chest, wrapping her fingers around my shirt, and pulled me to her.

I felt her lips on mine again, softer than before, and then her tongue gently seeking entrance to my mouth. I surprised myself by letting out a small moan. Our tongues met and began soft, tentative dance.

Then, Nyssa pulled back. “Does that clarify what my decision is?”

“Yes,” I said, and sought her lips again, needing the contact.

She kissed me with a building, intense determination, much like she approached other things in life: training, sparring, negotiations. She was urgent yet skilled, retaining awareness of my reactions and tailoring her approach accordingly.

When she bit my bottom lip, I moaned. She licked it once and bit harder, a second time. When I drew back, giving her better access to my neck, she watched for a beat and then leaned in to kiss, and then nip, at my neck. Wanting to be closer to her, and starting to feel an intense need between my legs, I hooked a leg over hers. She grabbed the underside of my leg, roaming upward to my ass, and pulled me into her.

And, much like her approach to battle and League politics, she retained that stubborn streak and instinct to dominate. I tried to push her onto her back, using my leg around hers as leverage. She resisted, not giving in.

Instead, she easily rolled me onto my back, landing with her on top. I heard her unstrap something near her ankle and watched as she placed an object onto the nightstand. She returned, resting on her elbows, looking at me. Our legs were intertwined, her thigh pressing gently between my legs.

“You have the start of a smile in your eyes, Little Canary,” she said.

“I’d been wondering where you kept that dagger,” I said, pleased to have learned another secret about her. My hands roamed along her back, sliding downward, downward. At the bottom of her tank top, I slid my hands underneath, touching her bare skin.

“I suppose this would be a good time to tell you,” Nyssa said. “The location of the dagger changes nightly. We have to keep our enemies guessing.”

“I’ll remember that next time,” There would be a next time.

Overeager, and before she could respond, I tried to reach between her legs. I should have known better.

She caught my wrist, hard. “Yes. It’s a good reminder that you ought to be quite careful where you grab.”

I squinted at her in frustration, and she raised an eyebrow in challenge. She pulled my wrist over my head, doing the same with her other hand, pinning me to the bed.

I arched my back upward, wanting more contact with her, but she moved away, teasing. Seconds later, though, she firmly pressed her thigh back between my legs, this time rocking. Grateful for the pressure, I wrapped an ankle around her calf, pressing into her.

Her lips were near my ear, whispering. “Little Canary,” she said. “You are very brave.” She then kissed me firmly on the lips again. She let go of my hands and slid a hand up my shirt.

I wrapped my arms around her as she began rolling a nipple between her thumb and middle finger, giving a squeeze and a pull.

Pleasure and pain. I cried out.

She pulled away and smiled wickedly, but then searched my eyes, checking in with me. When she saw that I was okay, she did it again, a bit harder. I cried out, and squeezed my legs around her thigh, tighter, wanting more contact. Putting my hands at both sides of her face, I pulled her in to kiss me. I ran my tongue along her bottom lip and then bit, softly. She bit back, harder, and then kissed where she had bit.

That was Nyssa. An iron fist in a velvet glove. Strong and yet vulnerable. Serious and then playful. Masterful but maybe, on occasion, submissive. Well, I’d see about that last one, anyway. I had the start of a small, untested inkling. Nonetheless, these were the complexities and contradictions that drew me to her.

From her position on top, she drew back and sat on her knees. She looked down at me and then pulled me up with her. Pulling my shirt over my head, she flung it to the floor.

I moved to take her shirt off, but she caught one of my hands. “Just... let me look at you,” she whispered. And then she did, putting her hands at my waist.

I rested my arms on her shoulders, and she pulled me closer to her. She looked me up and down. Then, I felt her mouth first on one breast, licking at the nipple and then softly blowing on it, before moving to the other side. She then pulled back, admiring me again.

She took her time finishing undressing both of us and then guided me to my back, as she rested on her elbow, next to me. She trailed her fingers from the middle of my chest down my abdomen, where they stopped. My hips, almost involuntarily, rocked upwards.

“Cherished One,” Nyssa said. “I know you feel a great need right now.”

“Yes.”

I shifted to turn toward her, but she pressed her hand into my abs, stopping me.

She then slid her fingers down to my inner thigh, carefully avoiding touching between my legs. “I can feel that you are very wet. Your desire drips down your thighs.”

On my back, I closed my eyes, willing her to touch me, but knowing she would take her time no matter what I said.

She ran her fingers back up to my belly, to the middle of my breasts. I felt her hand move to the side of my face. She began kissing me then, and mercifully, she slid on top of me, this time resting herself between my legs.

“Yes,” I said, wrapping my legs around her waist. “Please.” I began pressing and opening myself up into her, seeking pressure from any part of her that I could.

Her arms were extended and she supported herself on her palms. Her hair fell down around her face. With one hand, she brushed her hair to the side. Then, she looked down at the way our bodies had joined, as if considering. Pulling her hips slightly back, she reached down with one hand, touching between her legs.

I watched, in awe, my mouth half-open, as Nyssa al Ghul touched herself. As she became more and more aroused, she started moving her hips slightly, causing her breasts to rock back and forth above me. I looked down the length of our bodies and watched as two of her fingers, already coated in her desire, caressed her clit.

She then spread herself open and gently lowered her hips, placing her clit into my wet center.

I gasped, and took hold of her hips, hardly believing it was happening. I felt her, immediately. She was warm, slick, and her clit was hard, protruding against me.

Holding her weight with both hands on the mattress, she slowly, very slowly, began moving her hips. First, she rubbed up and down and then she made small circles around my clit, with her own. She used just a small amount of pressure. Just enough, barely enough, to first tease and then begin a slow build. It felt somewhat like a wet finger would feel, except that I knew it wasn’t her finger.

“Gods, Nyssa,” I said, looking up at her.

We made eye contact. “Have you been with many women, Cherished One?”

“N-no. I mean… some.”

“Hmmm,” Nyssa said, smiling slightly “We can explore that question later. This feels quite nice, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.” I started moving my hips in small circles, as well, to the rhythm she had started.

Her breath hitched. “Good,” she said. “I want you to know that there are a great many ways to fulfill this need.” She continued to move her hips in slow, delicate circles. “All in good time.”

“Yes, yes,” I agreed. My hands reached up to cup the sides of her face, to draw her to me.

She let me, as she continued to move. She dropped down from supporting herself on her palms to her elbows. I noticed that she was breathing more heavily, much like I was.

I kissed her on the lips, my tongue meeting hers, kissing her almost wildly. I then began moving my hips slightly faster, slightly harder under her, feeling impatient and less able to control myself.

For the first time, I heard her moan. She opened her legs wider, and threw a leg over mine so that our legs were intertwined, for better leverage. The circles coming slightly faster now, she too began pressing harder into me with her hips.

I pressed my hips up, meeting her and holding her hips tightly with my hands, pulling her into me. Our movements became less delicate. Less teasing and more raw and urgent. Closer to the edge.

I wanted to come. And, no small part of me wanted Nyssa to come. I realized how desperate I was to watch her lose control. To be the cause of it.

I looked up and her eyes were closed as she moved on top of me, her eyebrows in a furrow. “Nyssa…”

She opened her eyes and looked down at me. A look of…. surprise? on her face. I continued moving my hips, matching her rhythm. Her face was flushed and she was breathing hard. She let out another moan, involuntarily, it seemed.

“Nyssa, are you going to-?”

“Unh,” she moaned, and quickly pulled her hips away.

Like that, the pressure was gone. Immediately, I ached for her contact. I tried to pull her hips back to me, but she didn’t budge.

“Hey, what is it?” I searched her eyes. “You didn’t-”

“Ta-er al-Sahfer,” she said, above me. “Wait.”

“What-” I felt confused. I had a thought about what might be going on, but then-

“I want to taste the most intimate part of you. Please.”

“Oh!” I said, as suddenly, Nyssa was moving down my body. I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, and then her fingers were parting me and who was I to complain. “Fuck. Yes.”

To give her better access, I bent my knees and placed my feet on the bed. She paused for a moment, as if taking me in. I felt her kiss the inside of my thigh first and then her tongue was at my entrance, sliding inside me, in and out. And then, she licked upward, toward my clit, but not on it, exactly. She pulled back.

“My beautiful canary,” she said.

I reached down to where her hand rested on my thigh. Placing my hand on hers, our fingers interlaced.

Then, she moved in and her tongue was back on me. She licked slowly, at first, exploring me in this most intimate way. In no particular hurry, she explored my folds, my entrance, the delicate area between my inner thigh and my center. I closed my eyes, certain I was dripping all over her.

She pulled back again.”You taste lovely.”

I moaned and then finally, finally, she moved back in and ran her tongue across my clit. She built up a steady rhythm, bringing me closer and closer to the edge.

“Nyssa,” I said, arching my back. My hips began to move involuntarily, seeking more of her tongue. “Gods, yes.”

Torturously, she slowed her rhythm just when I was sure I would come, stroking around my clit, but not on it. An instant later, I felt her warm, wet lips surround my clit. She sucked once, twice, and then pulled away.

Her finger tested my entrance and I moaned at the prospect of her filling me.

“You would like me inside you, I think,” she said, as if pleased by the sounds she was causing me to make.

Knowing my answer, she leaned in and continued licking. Then, she slid one finger in and, feeling that it went in easily, added another finger. Both fingers in to the hilt, she made her way back up my body. She kept her fingers inside me, and pressed into my clit with her palm.

When she reached me, she paused and looked down at me. “You are exquisite beyond what I have imagined.”

When she leaned in to kiss me, I kissed her hard on the mouth. Tasting myself on her, I licked at her lips. She moaned, and I felt her test a third finger at my entrance. She pulled back and looked at me, questioning.

“Slow,” I said.

Nyssa nodded and watched me as slowly, slowly she slid a third finger inside me.

I felt stretched and full and close, so close, to the edge.

She kissed me on the lips and then made her way down my body again, positioning her head between my legs.

I rocked my hips into her fingers and wanted nothing more in that moment than to feel her warm lips and tongue back on me. She slid her fingers in and out, in and out, watching me envelope her and coat her fingers in my desire.

Mercifully, then, I felt her tongue. She began licking steadily. As her tongue moved across my clit with an almost flicking motion, she brought me closer by pumping her fingers, sliding them almost all the way out, and then back inside me. I heard her moan while she worked, as if there was nothing in the world she’d rather be doing.

I knew I was lost, in that moment.

I was hers, completely. And, I was going to come, no matter what, even if she slowed to a tease. Even if she commanded me to stop. Even if Ra’s al Ghul himself stormed into the room and caught us in the act.

I began bucking my hips, meeting the strokes of both her tongue and fingers. I felt my inner walls start to clench hard around her fingers as my orgasm started. “Nyssa!” I cried, my back arching so that my pelvis was off the bed.

Nyssa stayed with me, keeping her fingers all the way inside me, as my inner walls clenched while she continued licking. She helped hold me up with her other hand. And, at the very peak of my orgasm, I held her head against me, into me, feeling her tongue pressed flat into my clit.

We were suspended like that for seconds, minutes, days? I’m certain I must have screamed, but I don’t remember yelling or hearing anything. I’m certain my eyes were closed but I saw flashes of white and violet light. And then a flame, blue, turning into wildfire.

When we landed back on the bed, there was silence.

And then, I remembered where we were. The safe house. The mission. The League. Nyssa, the Heir.

Nyssa, my Nyssa, delicately slid her fingers out of me and kissed her way up my body, until she rested on top of me. Our bodies intertwined, I realized now that we were both sweaty, our bedding awry. The chill was no longer in the air.

She kissed me on the lips and then pulled back, looking at me. “That pleased you.”

“Yes, very much so.” I was still catching my breath.

“Very good.”

I ran my fingers along her back and she closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation. I felt beads of sweat along her spine.

She opened her eyes and then slid her body off of mine. Laying on her side, she rested her hand on my belly, grazing it with her fingertips. I ached to touch her, to give her sexual pleasure.

I turned toward her, on my side, putting a hand on her hip. I could smell her arousal and see the flush on her face. “I want to taste you.”

“Well, it’s….” she started. “It’s hardly necessary.” She looked away, quickly.

“I know it’s not necessary, but you’re turned on.”

“Yes, well.”

“Nyssa…. what are you feeling?”

“It pleases me greatly to give you pleasure.”

“You have no idea how lucky that makes me feel,” I said. I then let out a small laugh. “You don’t have to treat me like a pillow queen though.”

“I’m sorry… a...?” Nyssa said, looking confused and, yes, maybe a tiny bit hurt.

She started to draw away, but I kept my hand at her hip, holding her close. “Hey,” I said. “Come back here. It’s just slang.”

“Well, what does it mean?”

“A pillow queen is someone who… only receives pleasure and never gives it.”

“Oh? And that is considered a problem?"

I leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek and then the lips. When I drew back, I asked. “Do you… not want to come in front of me?”

She turned to lay on her back, resting one arm behind her head and the other on her stomach. “Would that upset you?”

“No, I just want to understand why.” I took hold of her hand on her stomach, interlacing our fingers.

“I just…. never have before. With someone.”

“You almost did, earlier. You seemed really close, but you stopped yourself...”

“Yes. A lack of desire isn’t the issue, Cherished One.”

“Oh,” I said, somewhat surprised. “So, it’s not that you’re unable to, it’s that you don’t want to?”

“Well,” she said. “I suspect it’s a bit of both, actually.”

“Okay, so that’s a start,” I said, now running my hand up to one of her breasts. I began lightly caressing it. “Is this... okay?”

She closed her eyes, seeming to relish my touch. "Yes." Then, she opened her eyes and looked at me. “But, two sides of the sword, remember?”

“The public and the private self,” I said. I found her nipple and rolled it between my thumb and forefinger. It hardened immediately. “To reveal certain aspects of yourself would be.... dangerous for the Heir." 

“Secrecy is the business we’re in.” Still, her breath hitched. “We have many enemies. Inside and out of the League."

“Nyssa, it’s just you and me right now. _This_ ,” I said, gesturing between us. “Is not business.”

“A fair point,” she conceded. “But _this_ will never be fully _ours_. Not as long as we’re in the League. If you were to ever leave….”

“You would have to kill me?”

Nyssa took my hand. She drew it to her lips and kissed it. “That could be the requirement.”

“That’s a tough gig. I get that. Knowing you might have to kill anyone you’ve fallen in love with.” I touched the side of her face and leaned in to kiss her. Before making contact, I whispered. “I trust that you’ll do what you think is right, should the time ever come for you to have to decide that.”

She closed the distance between our lips, running her tongue along my lower lip before pulling away. “Yes, I suspect you’re right about that,” she said. “But…”

“But what? Hardened assassins don’t have needs?” I leaned forward and licked a nipple, twirling my tongue around it, as she arched her back.

Nyssa moaned, and let out a small laugh. “I assure you I have needs.”

I pulled away, smiling. “You’re just used to relying on yourself to meet them?”

“Among other implements.”

“Now that is a very captivating image.” I licked her other nipple and then bit as I pulled away.

Nyssa squinted, a look of pleasure on her face. “Cherished One,” she said. “I want you to feel something. Close your eyes.”

I did as instructed and waited.

She took my hand and drew it to her heart. Her skin was warm, flushed. Her heart beat steadily and quickly. Then, I felt her move my hand down her chest, down her belly, and past the soft hair between her legs. I swallowed and licked my lips, feeling a bit dizzy.

“Nyssa….”

She formed two of my fingers together and pushed them up, up into her. My fingers slid in easily, all the way. She was warm and tight and unbelievably wet.

I moaned, wanting to begin thrusting and searching for her clit, but her hand remained on mine holding me in place. “Nyssa, please….”

“Patience, Little Canary. Tell me what you feel.”

I fought hard to focus and control myself. I closed my eyes, listened, and felt. And, there it was.

“Your heartbeat.” I opened my eyes, looking into hers.

It was then that I knew she was right. Even here, in the privacy of this room, she was still Nyssa al Ghul, even if she was also something more, to me. The two-sided sword would always have two, inseparable sides. But there was something more, as well-

“You understand,” she said, looking at me.

I nodded.

“Good,” she said. She then looked at me without emotion. “Every skilled assassin also has to cultivate a side that is so hidden that it is no side at all. It has no face. It feels nothing. It is no one. It kills without a second thought. Do you understand that now?”

“I… I think so.”

She looked at me with a sad smile. “Every part of me,” she said “Even this last one. Is for you. If you will accept me, now knowing who and what I am, fully.” She looked down, then, as if to avoid any look of disappointment in my eyes.

“Nyssa, yes. Yes”

She looked back up and then removed her hand from mine, as if satisfied with my answer.

My fingers still inside her, I shifted to move on top of her. I felt her stiffen, as if by instinct. “Hey,” I said, smiling gently. “You can let go. You don’t have to be in control all the time. Not here. Not with me.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when I pressed my palm into her clit, and pulled my fingers slowly out of her, and then slowly back in. She relaxed as I continued pumping. I moved fully on top of her, resting an elbow to her side, to hold myself up.

“That’s….that’s quite nice,” she said. “Yes.” She licked her lips.

I smiled and leaned down to kiss her. Our lips met, briefly, and I felt her tongue at my mouth. As she tried to seek entry, I pulled away, teasing.

She looked briefly surprised, her mouth dropping open. But, when I picked up the pace with my fingers, she began gently rocking her hips, meeting my thrusts. “Do you need more?” I asked, testing a third finger.

“No, I…. I don’t think I do.”

Satisfied, I continued pumping my fingers in and out, enjoying the tight, warm sensation. As I quickened the pace, I felt one of her hands move down, ending up between her legs. I looked down our bodies, watching as she began moving a finger across, and around, her wet clit. I observed, seeing what she did to make herself feel pleasure, even as I continued pumping my fingers inside of her. “Gods, Nyssa. You’re beautiful.”

As she closed her eyes and drew her head back in pleasure, I kissed and then nipped at her neck. Then, I was struck with an idea. I pulled my fingers out, and placed them on top of her fingers that were rubbing her clit.

I let her fingers guide me, around and around, as I watched her reactions. First, a moan. Then, a deepening flush across her breasts and up to her cheeks. Then, a soft rocking of her hips, as her pleasure continued to build.

“Nyssa...let go. Let me give this to you.”

She looked up at me, paused, and then nodded, almost imperceptibly. She pulled her hand away from herself and placed it on my hip. Not wanting to break her rhythm, I continued rubbing her clit with my fingers, just as she had been.

I knew her expert fingers had already gotten her close. But, I felt her clit harden, swelling even more under my touch. Dipping inside her briefly, I gathered more wetness before continuing rubbing, this time up and down over her clit.

“Yes,” she said, into my mouth. “That’s it. Don’t stop. Don’t stop.” She rocked her hips, in time with the rhythm of my fingers. Her breathing was coming faster and faster, as I moved my fingers up and down, up and down.

I knew she started to come when she bit into my shoulder. I felt her begin to throb and then pulse, hard, underneath my fingers. I cried out with her as she bucked her hips hard and then, at the peak of her orgasm, stopped moving altogether as her clit pulsed into my fingers.

When she was satisfied and her clit became too sensitive to be touched any longer, she pulled my hand away. “Ta-er el-Sahfer,” she said.

As she caught her breath once again, I slid onto my back and pulled her with me, so that she was resting on her side, with her head on my chest. “Mmmm, yes?”

“I think you _have_ been with many women.”

“Some,” I said, with a smile. “But not ‘many.’”

She placed a hand on my belly. “Well I am still insanely jealous.”

“Nyssa, they don’t hold a candle to you. You are divine.”

“I don’t know about that, Cherished One,” she said, with a small laugh.

As our sweat began to cool in the night air, we pulled the covers back over ourselves. We had ended up on opposite sides of the bed compared to when we had first tried to go to sleep. We lay in silence for several minutes.

“What are you feeling?” Nyssa asked.

“Just wondering what happens tomorrow.”

“We wake up. We take the rowboat. We catch the charter flight. We go home.”

“And then?”

“We train. We work. We…. love.”

“Are you scared, even a little?”

“We will deal with the consequences of our actions,” she said. “Isn’t that, too, part of our training?”

“I suppose it is,” I said, noticing how seamlessly she shifted between my private, passionate Nyssa and the cold, detached Nyssa al Ghul. They truly were one and the same, somehow.

“Good." She ran her fingertips up and down my belly. “Do you think you will be able to rest now?”

“Not if you continue touching me like that,” I said.

I felt her smile against me.  “Perhaps I should stop,” she said. Her fingers on my belly stilled to a rest.

“Mmmm, you don't have to.” I said. “Will you tell your father. When we get back?”

“He will know regardless. But yes. I owe him that courtesy, at least.”

My heart skipped a beat at the prospect.

“Calm your mind, Cherished One,” Nyssa said, placing her hand at my heart. “We will encounter nothing we aren’t prepared to handle.”

I nodded. “What about telling the others?”

“Do you want them to know?”

“It’s your call, Nyssa.”

“I suspect they will know soon enough once you start tip-toeing with me to my chambers at night. Or the baths. Or the dungeon…”

I smiled. “Right. Nanda Parbat would probably not be the easiest place to have a secret affair.”

“Try to rest now, Little Canary.”

I laughed. “Now that you have me imagining taking you in your elegant bedchamber....”

“Patience is a virtue.”

I closed my eyes, then, and eventually, somehow did fall asleep.

We both rested, although it was fitful, I think, for both of us. We were weary from the day’s significant events and yet the newness of us, together, was like a spark. When I woke, in the night, her lips were at my ear, urging me back to sleep. When I slept, I dreamed of a sword with two sides, falling into a deep blue flame. I saw a bird, rising from the ashes, a bit broken, but stronger than before.

Before dawn, Nyssa kissed me awake, our bodies still intertwined.

A part of me wanted to beg her to forget Nanda Parbat. To run away with me and start over. However, I knew that wasn’t her destiny and, thus, neither was it mine. It was time for us to leave, together. To return home.

xxx The End xxx

 


End file.
